


It's The Silent Ones That Get You (So Please Do Watch Out)

by grimalkinInferno



Category: RWBY
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Post-Volume 6 (RWBY), oscar-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 03:35:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17994095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimalkinInferno/pseuds/grimalkinInferno
Summary: oscar is feeling odd. it's probably nothing.--hey, so, i know i should technically be updating Nothing Matters, but i thought of this and it wouldn't leave me alone so have this midnight drabble ;w; title is from The Silent by Tragic Tantrum





	It's The Silent Ones That Get You (So Please Do Watch Out)

it starts with a pervasive tiredness, a few days after the incident at brunswick. this isn't unusual, considering how well-acquainted oscar has become with staying up into the witching hours and beyond. the wizard in his head is locked away tight, but things still sometimes slip through the cracks. these are not always pleasant things.  
  
so at first, he writes it off as too little sleep for a growing boy his age and ignores it. there are more important things that need to be done, like convincing ironwood to actually let them into atlas and making sure the entire team doesn't fall apart (not because of him. not again.) he patiently waits for his body to get used to this new normal and continues on like nothing is wrong.  
  
(it doesn't. he doesn't know what to do about it, so he does nothing.)  
  
two days later and he notices how difficult it is becoming to convince himself to get up at all. he has to, he has no other option, and he knows this. so he gets up and tries not to fall asleep lest he have to lie there for half an hour going through everything in his head again.  
  
(but he can't help but think- what's the point?)  
  
whatever this is, it better pass soon. it's getting to the point where he can't help but notice the weird looks jaune is giving him. it's always whenever he seems to think oscar isn't paying attention- he may not be, but he can still tell when someone is watching him. he can't wrap his head around it, thinks maybe he still feels guilty (wishes he wouldn't. knows he was right anyway.) he keeps trying to remind himself to ask about it and reassure him that he really, truly has nothing to be sorry for. it keeps slipping his mind, somehow.  
  
(he's having trouble keeping track of time.)  
  
and suddenly, jaune surprises him by asking him to spar with him. "to keep things sharp," he says. oscar can tell that's not what he means, but doesn't argue. he doesn't really feel like it.  
  
so he does his best, fights with everything he has (because that's what jaune does, what all of them do, what he should be doing too.) it lasts for about five minutes before jaune lets out a startled cry that makes oscar stumble for a second before realizing what jaune had even said.  
  
"oh my gods, are you okay?!"  
  
what?  
  
"what?" he asks.  
  
"i- i'm so sorry, i didn't even notice- does it hurt, should i- should i get something?"  
  
"what're you..." and then oscar looks down.  
  
as it turns out, jaune had sliced him with his sword at some point. looking at it, yeah, it actually hurts pretty bad. he has no idea how long ago it was, but it's bleeding quite a bit and looking at it makes him a bit dizzy.   
  
"oh," he says, and then he's on his knees.  
  
as jaune has his hands on oscar's side, he can't help but wonder how he didn't notice for so long. didn't even notice his aura had faded that much. come to think of it, did he even activate it in the first place? he ponders the questions while staring blankly at his blood in the dirt, on his coat, on jaune's gauntlets. at some point- minutes or hours or seconds later, oscar can't tell- jaune breaks the silence.  
  
"you... feeling okay?"  
  
wasn't that a question. oscar chews it for a second before shrugging. "didn't even notice, honestly."  
  
if oscar had looked up, he would have noticed the creeping horror in jaune's eyes. as it is, all he sees is he rest of him tensing and becoming very, very still. "... how could you not _notice_?"  
  
oscar just shrugs again.   
  
"... i wanted to ask you, actually," jaune starts, and stops, and starts again. "you've been kind of... distant, lately. i didn't know if it meant anything, but... did something happen?"  
  
oscar shrugs once more. three in a row. he should get a prize. "not that i can think of. i guess i'm just..."  
  
and he stops himself there, because suddenly everything makes sense.  
  
in a tidal wave he remembers brunswick, remembers the horrible grimm the diary spoke of, remembers the underground water irrigation system the girls spoke of, that the apathy resided in, the well, remembers getting up in the middle of the night with a peculiar dryness in his throat-  
  
and he gasps, because he can feel the pain.  
  
not the pain in his side. jaune has taken care of that. there's an aching, tense, crushing pain in his chest. his heart is hammering, and he feels something clawing up his throat, blocking his windpipe, and he's choking, he can't breathe, he can't breathe he can't _breathe_ -  
  
he feels a solid *THUMP* on his back, and he coughs up something that splatters on the ground. when he looks at it, body shaking and eyes watering, it's already fading away into ash that scatters in the faint breeze. the only thing he can make out is an inky black mass of flesh.  
  
he feels sick. judging by the sound jaune makes, he's not the only one.  
  
"what... _was_  that?" he asks, hand still on oscar's back.  
  
he swallows. "apathy. something i didn't notice." he's still shaking.  
  
"... oh," is all jaune says, and then pulls oscar close and tight.   
  
he slowly brings his own arms around jaune, clutching tightly at his hoodie, seeing the past week or so replay in his head. his stomach twists into awful knots and he shakes harder, buries his face in jaune's chest. he holds him tighter and rubs circles between his shoulder blades.  
  
"it's okay, you're okay," he whispers. oscar chokes on a noise and tastes something wet and salty.  
  
after that, while oscar is asleep on the couch, jaune watches the rise and fall of his chest and makes sure it stays steady.

**Author's Note:**

> content warning for emetophobia, body horror, psychological horror, blood and injury, general angst
> 
> i was inspired, i couldnt stop thinking about it, this is the result. my brain is a fun place.  
> anyway, i needed more jaune being oscars big brother!!! sorry the comfort bit isnt great, i kinda lost steam towards the end. but yeah, oscar needs a hug


End file.
